From Ricoeur to Action: The Socio-Political Significance of Ricoeur's Thinking

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From Ricoeur to Action engages with the thinking of the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005) in order to propose innovative responses to 21st-century problems actively contributing to global conflict. Ricoeur's ability to draw from a diverse field of philosophers and theologians and to provide mediation to seemingly irreconcilable views often has both explicit and implicit practical application to socio-political questions. Here an international team of leading Ricoeur scholars develop critical yet productive responses through the development of Ricoeur's thought with respect to such topics as race, environmental ethics, technology, political utopia and reinterpreting religion. Representing a new generation of Ricoeur scholarship that attempts to move beyond an exegetical engagement with his philosophy, this collection of original essays examines key problems in the 21st-century and the ways in which Ricoeur's philosophy understands the subtleties of these problems and is able to offer a productive response. As such it presents an elucidation of the practical significance of Ricoeur's thinking and an innovative contribution to resolving socio-political conflicts in the 21st century.

Reviews

This volume is a pioneering engagement with Ricoeur's philosophy of political action. Taking its cue from Ricoeur's notion of politics as a "considered wager" on productive social tension, its contributors offer a rich panoply of perspectives on crucial contemporary issues, ranging from race and environment to democracy and forgiveness. Here is a treasure trove of insights into the multidimensional dialectic of socio-political life and a precious guide to the cultivation of Ricoeur's dream of the "wide citizen". -- Richard Kearney, Seelig Chair of Philosophy at Boston College, USA and author of 'On Paul Ricoeur: The Owl of Minerva'
From Ricoeur to Action aptly explores the central concerns of Ricoeur's philosophy. This is an exciting contribution to Ricoeur scholarship and new ventures of thought as well. I heartily recommended it for a wide readership. -- William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics, The University of Chicago, USA
This book offers thorough and brilliant analyses of Paul Ricoeur's intellectual legacy in its relevance for current debates in political theory and ethics. It is a key collection that provides a wealth of fresh perspectives built on many convincing reconstructions of the main intentions, trajectories, and new departures of his multi-faceted hermeneutics of the self in its cultural mediations. Scholars of politics, ethics, law, social theory, philosophy and theology will find the tools of philosophy at work in clarifying the shared space and the limits of human agency, and in identifying the tasks of translating convictions and renewing symbolic resources in view of the challenges posed for democratic self-understandings in a technological age. -- Maureen Junker-Kenny, Associate Professor at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Author Bio

Todd S. Mei is Lecturer of Philosophy at the University of Kent, UK. David Lewin is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Education at Liverpool Hope University, UK, where he is co-director of Education Studies and director of the Philosophy of Education Special Interest Group.